Meat-cutter



(No Model.)

\ O. D. WOODRUFF.

MEAT CUT-TBR. No.A 368,041. Patente umullllllllllllll WM MM/fl- N. PEYERS, Phow-Lithagmpber. wnhmgwn, D. c,

UNITED STATES PATENT Fries.

OLIVER D. WOODRUFF, OF SOUTHINGTON, OONNEOTIOU T.

inIEM-CUTTER.v

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 368,041, dated August; 1887.

Application iiled February 16, 1887. Serial No. 227,761. (No model.)

To all whom z'tanay concern.- i v Be known that I, OLIVER D.WooDRUF1v, a citizen of the .United States, residing at Southington, in the` county of Hartford and objects of my improvements are convenience of manufacture and of handling when made, eiiciency in operation, and compactness in form.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure I is a side elevation of my machine. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of Aits standard on line w :c of Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a vertical section thereof, partlyin elevation. Fig. 4 is a vertical section ofthe main portion ofthe case. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the rotary knives and their supporting-frame. Fig. Gis an end view ofthe main shaft, and Fig. 7 is an under side View of a portion'of the case,showing the stoplngs which prevent one part of the case from moving around on the other part.

A designates the main portion of the case, andB the perforated or open shell of the case, which constitutes a series of stationary knives. At oneend of the case A, at its under side, I form an arm or bracket, O, having vertical ribs a a, and at the lower corner I form a flange, b. The space between said iiange b and bracket O is in the ila-ture of aperipheral groove or socket extending part way around the case. I also perforate 'the bracket C lfor the reception of a bolt or screw, c.

The standard D has vertical grooves in one side to iit the ribs a a ofthe bracket, as shown in Fig. 2, while its upper end is fitted to the peripheral groove or socket in the under side of the case. The standard is also provided with a screw or bolt hole which registers with that in the bracket O. The lower end of the standard may be provided with any ordinary means for securing it to abench or table; but I prefer to provide it with a clamp-frame, d,-

and clamp mechanism or screw e of any ordinary construction, as shown, :for securing it to the edge of a suitable supporting table or shelf. By this construction ot' the attachable and detachable standard the case is properly elevated for convenient use, and after use it can readily be detached from the standard,so that the cese may be less bulky to handle for cleaning and more compact to store away. When wanted for use,the case :can readily be attached to the standard.

In my former patent the cone-shellv or coneshaped end of the ease was screwed upon the end of thev other part. I now make the end of the main portion threadless and smooth on the periphery, and a little inside the end on the under side, or other convenient place,I form the stop-lugf, Figs. l and 7. shell is fitted upon this end and also provided with a stop-lug, g. I prefer, also, to notch or k nurl the cone B at its base to assist in turning it around after it is slipped on, so as to bring the stop-lugs f g against each other, as shown, and thereby prevent the cone from turning on the other part of the case. The lugs are formed to resist that tendency to turn which the part B has when in cutting action with the internal knives. In order to prevent the cone part from working endwise off the the other part of `the case, I provide it with the set-screw h, the point of which takes into aconical recess in the part A, the same being a little to one side of the central point of .the screw, soas to obtain a drawing effect, as shown in Fig. 3. I

Instead of making the inner face ot' the cone of a taper from end to end, corresponding to the taper of the knife-frame, I enlarge the smaller end, so that it is of a greater diameter than the smaller end of the knife-frame, as shown in Fig. 3, thereby preventing the formation of a shoulder on the inside of the cone by wear.

In my former patent the knives i were permanently secured to the head E at the end of the feed-screw F; but I now connect them to rings, making them as a whole in the form of an attachable and detachable knifeframe or composite cutter. In ordervto make this composite cutter or knife-frame rotate with the feed-screw, I 'form lugs k m, which engage The cone- IOC notches in thescrew and head,(seeFigs.3 and 5,) the knife-frame being fitted somewhat loosely thereon, so that it may move a little to or from the center of the shaft and adjust itself to the inside of the conc. The smaller ring of the knife-frame bears against a shoulder on the shaft at the outer end of the head E, so as to hold the knives against an endwise movement away from the inner face of the cone part B, as shown in Fig. 3. The larger ring of the knife-frame I chamfer on the inside to a thin edge, so that it does not obstruct the passage of the meat from the feed-screw groove to the cam-groove in the head E. It is not necessary to chamfer this ring all the way around for this purpose; but it is just as well to do so.

The ring at thesmall end of the knife-frame is made large enough to slip over the adjusting-collar n on the end of the feed-screw shaft, and is also slotted to pass the head of the setserew o, which holds said collar on the shaft. (See Fig. 3.) Said screw and slot also serve as an index to indicate the proper position of the knife-frame in putting it in place. The set-screw o has its end bearing against a fiat seat on the shaft, and by setting the collar in proper position the outer end of the cone part will bear against said collar, so that thel setscrew h, which secures part B, will not draw the cone-shell too closely against the knives i. By this means the proper cutting contact may be regulated. This is quite important, as itprevents undue pressure of the knives and cone, so that they will not heat, even when the machine is run rapidly by power. Furthermore, it removes, in a great measure, the wear of the knives on the inner face of the cone.

I make two improvements in the feed, whereby I am enabled to better eut the meat preparatory to the action of the knives within the coneshell,and also to feed efficiently with a much shorter ease than heretofore. The first of these improvements resides in making that section or portion of the several spiral ribs q which is acted on by the feed-screw immediately before the screw reaches the fixed longitudinal knife 1' at the bottom of the case of a much less inclination or pitch than the pitch of the ribs for the remainder of their length. The meat as it passes through the hopper is caught upon the feed-screw and pressed against the ribs on the inside of' the ease. In the main it is first pressed against the portion of the ribs having the lesser pitch, and at pratically the same time it is carried against the longitudinal knife for cutting it into shorter pieces. By making this portion of the ribs with only a slight pitch the meat is not crowded along very fast until plenty of time has tbeen given for the feed-screw and knife i' to act; but so soon as they have acted to cut off pieces of the meat the meat thus freed is forced against the more inclined portion of the ribs and fed faster through the ease.

The second of the improvements in the feed resides in making the ribs project from a surface which, in the longitudinal direction of the machine, is substantially straight from rib to rib and parallel with a line running across the tops of the ribs, while the ribs themselves have the side which faces the discharge end of the machine at right angles to thelength of the case, or standing over toward that end at a little more than a right angle. This causes them to take a better hold on the meat, so that a shorter case will feed as rapidly as a long one in which this face of the ribs slants the other way.

I claim as my invention l. Ina meat-cutter, the combination of the case having the bracket and socket, said bracket being provided with the ribs a a, the standard l), fitted to said bracket and socket and having grooves or recesses for said ribs, and the fastcningscrew for securing said standard and bracket together, substantially as described, and for the purpose specified.

2. In a meat-cutter, the combination of the driving-shaft,the two parts AB of the case,each having a bearing for one end. of' said. shaft,sa 1d parts being adapted to shut one over the other on a smooth surface and having the stop-lugs to prevent rotation, and means to prevent one part from moving longitudinally off from the other, substantially as described, and for the purpose specified.

3. In a meat-cutter, the combination of the two-part case A. B, adapted to shut one over the other, the feed-screw shaft carrying the peripheral knives, and the adj listing-collar a on the end of the shaft inside of the part B, to regulate the distance that part B shall be slipped upon partA, substantially as described, and for the purpose specified.

4. In a meat-cutter, in combination, a feedscrew, a knife-frame or composite cutter consisting of peripheral knives mounted upon or connected by rings, said cutter being detachably mounted on and fitted somewhat loosely upon said screw-shaft at or near its end, and adapted in the revolution of the screw to be revolved therewith, and a shell provided with a perforated wall, the inner surface of said perforated wall being in close contact with the cutting-edges of the knives, as specified.

5. rIhe combination of the two-part ease A B, the feed-screw F, having the head E, provided with a shouldcron the outer end thereof, and the attaehable and detachable knife-frame consisting of the larger and smaller rings and interposed knives, the smaller ring ofthe knife-frame acting against the shoulder on the head of the screw-shaft to hold said frame in position within the part B, substantially as described, and for the purpose specified.

6. In a meat-cutter, the combination of the feed-screw shaft, the periph eral knives mounted on and moving with said shaft, a collar, a,also mounted on and. moving with said shaft, the two parts of the ease eachhaving a bearing for one end of said shaft, the part B, bearing against the side of said shoulder, and the setscrew l1, for holding the part B up against said IOO IIO

IIS

shoulder, whereby the interior lof the cone 8. In a meat-cutter, the combination of the feed-screw shaft,the set'of peripheral knives r 5 arranged in cone form, and the perforated cone-shell having its inner face tapered to t said knives for their operating length and then enlarged at the smaller end, substantially as described, and for the purpose specified.

OLIVER D. WOODRUFF.

Witnesses:

JAMES SHEPARD, J oHN EDWARDS, Jr. 

